Just wondering how long it would take for the Assault Weapons Ban to take effect once the ball starts rolling? I've got a Stag Model 2T on order and just wonder if I should cancel it for something I can find like an SKS or keep waiting.

Just keep waiting on your Stag if that's what you want. Don't settle for something else for simple fear. Even when legislation is a serious threat, it will take a long time to get through the Congressional wickets. It might pass, but it sure won't sail through like other less controversial bills. No way it'll go from intro to signed in 24 hours.

Would a ban restrict AR lowers only? or stripped lowers and complete lowers? Could you still buy the complete uppers? sure hope it doesn't come to this, who makes a good lower to assemble? Any good books, DVDs, videos about builidng an AR from a stripped lower to complete?

My son is selling and making a small fortune while everybody is in panic mode. Good for him!

Anybody else notice that the Pres. is shifting closer to center every day? We are in an economic tailspin. Have wars going on two fronts. Gun control MAY show up as an earmark on some bill. If so it WILL be on your NRA legislative alert.

If you aren't a member of the NRA, join ASAP. I'm guessing that the crap will hit the fan in a few years, swelling the ranks now could prevent future proposals.

I'm not getting paid for this as it looks like an ad for the NRA. Part of my family moved here in 1690. As Will Rodgers said, the other half was there to greet them. I just beleive in this country. IMHO, the NRA is all that stands between gun owners and people that eat steak-on-a-stick from street vendors. I've been to Washington, DC. more than once.

Chad, legislation if passed as an emergency, could take effect as soon as it was signed. Some legislation includes a start time. The short answer is that it depends upon how any particular bill is written.

lon371, I'm not aware of any pending legislation that calls for a ban. Care to enlighten the rest of us?

It was only brought up in the sense that the attorney general was talking out of turn. He was swiftly repudiated by the Speaker of the House and apparently also by the leader of the Senate, neither of whom apparently see any political benefit of taking on the gun lobby at this time.

The rumor that I get from some friends who have ties to Justice is that Rahm Emanuel also delivered a "WHAT THE EFF WERE YOU DOING!??!" message to the AG on behalf of the President.

Mind you, it favors gun manufacturers to inspire some degree of worry in their customers. To know your entire production capacity will be immediately purchased, not tying your money up in inventories or receivables, is very valuable.

That said, an EVP from one of the bigger military manufacturers was pushing to raise awareness that a presidential import ban could bring a screeching halt to their products available on the commercial market.

"Since the paperwork is already there, it could get through quicker than we think."

Uh... Not really.

The law expired. It doesn't matter if the "paperwork" is there - the law expired.

Sure, someone from Congress could use it as a starting point for writing a new law, but it's not just as simply as saying "Hey, let's bring XXX, which expired a couple of years ago, back to life. All in favor?" and by a voice vote it becomes law again.

Also, there's already been an attempt to reinitiate the ban, word for word. So far it's languishing in committee with a grand total of 4 sponsors.

Anything that is proposed has to go through the full legislative process. How long that process takes is COMPLETELY open to debate. This is a completely different congress than the one that passed it in 1994; the times are different, the realities are different, and the AWB helped cost the Democrats a LOT of seats in Congress in the 1994 midterms and is counted as a huge factor in costing the Dems. the White House in 2000. They may be many things, but they're not dumb. They fully know that the potential exists for the exact same thing to happen today.

Pelosi's reaction to Holder's pronouncement is a pretty good indication that the Dems know that the next couple of years are VERY tenuous for them.

If their economic stimulus plan doesn't start turning things around, and things get even worse AND they ram through an AWB?

They're smart enough to recognize that the mid terms would probably be even worse for them than they were in 1994.

Pelosi doesn't have the votes in the House and Reid, who does not support the AWB, will not push it in the Senate.

For Pelosi to get the votes in the house she would have to strong arm a great deal of her pary members from conservative districts to vote for the legislation which would certainly cost them in the next election. These congressmen know that voting for this would more than likely cost them so I don't know what exactly Pelosi could do to force them to vote their way out of office.

Should Pelosi push for it she knows it will not make it through the Senate so it would be a stupid political move. The republicans have been attempting to use the gun issue, among others, to help them gain back the majority. The safest way for the democrats to prevent them from using the gun issue is to not allow gun legislation to come up for a vote and in the House the majority can make that happen.

We all know what Pelosi's views on guns are and the only thing preventing her from trying to further her views is her desire to remain Speaker.

Historically, the party that wins the Presidential election loses seats in the House of Representatives during the next midterm election. Since our founding, there have been only a few exceptions (1902, 1934, 1998, and 2002).

So the Democrats already have a very tough battle ahead as it is. I don't think they are looking to make it tougher at the moment. Pelosi's reaction to Holder's statement and the fact that the Senate Majority Leader opposes the ban are going to make it very difficult to pass any legislation right now.

We will definitely see such a bill introduced; but I do not expect it to gain traction until at least after the 2002 mid-terms. The Democrats demonstrated that they would rather try for the brass ring than immediate gun control when they stifled several AWB attempts after taking control in 2006. They have some significant opportunities now to establish long-running control over all three branches of government. I think they will not risk that opportunity in the next two years. Not to mention that the logical place to kick off a gun control fight would not be the AWB; but background checks for private sales.

I've been hearing rumblings and tonight saw a blurb on "60 Minutes" so I suspect it will be really soon. Mexico's government is blaming their civil war with their drug cartels on our AWB expiration. The Mexican empty suit interviewd by the TV empty suit said something to the tune of "the second amendment was never meant to allow this".

Now if Mexico had had their own second amendment so their own citizens could have been legally armed they wouldn't have had the problem in the first place. As it is Mexico should be the poster child for the old NRA slogan "If guns are banned only criminals will have guns".

__________________
In a few years when the dust finally clears and people start counting their change there is a pretty good chance that President Obama may become known as The Great Absquatulator. You heard it first here on TFL.

Even though it's reported that Obama was not very happy about the AG's comments polite correspondence to Senators and Congressional Reprsentative specifically asking them to oppose any attempt to pass AWB is appropriate. Better sooner than later.

We have a constitutional right to KEEP and BEAR arms. Let's not ever stop talking about it. And like a lot of you, we are members of the NRA and staunch supporters.

We have 535 mostly "criminals" running our United States government. They are pals with their CEO friends, many of whom are also criminals. They have banded together to attempt to strip the people of the United States first from their wealth, then their pride, and will finally try to strip us of our guns. We cannot allow that.

What we need is leadership, and a million man march on Washington, D.C. to tell these useless SOBs that THEY do not run the country--WE do!

Sorry if I violated any rules for this forum, but feel strongly that we cannot allow gun owners to become "sheep" with the likes of the Washington "criminals" passing legislation without regard to the constitution.

What we need is leadership, and a million man march on Washington, D.C. to tell these useless SOBs that THEY do not run the country--WE do!

This isn't directed at you in particular sir, but at the constant flow of these comments I keep seeing.

I'm perfectly aware that our rights are in jeopardy. They have been for decades. We don't need to be reminded at every turn, in every thread mentioning political issues. You're preaching to the choir. The energy would be better spent staying in contact with elected officials, both on the Federal and local levels.

Quote:

Historically, the party that wins the Presidential election loses seats in the House of Representatives during the next midterm election. Since our founding, there have been only a few exceptions (1902, 1934, 1998, and 2002).

Really neat. I'd never noticed that pattern.

It falls in line with what I suspect, which is that the Republicans will make large gains in the legislative branch during next year's midterms. They showed a welcome amount of solidarity in opposing the stimulus bill, and they seemed poised to make fiscal responsibility the big issue this time around.

The Dems will have to devote a huge amount of political capital to defend a huge spending bill that will have produced no tangible results by then.

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.

Barring a huge confluence of catastrophes, there won't be another AWB. It cost them dearly in 1994, and if there's one thing people in power fear, it's losing power. They'd need a really good reason and a good chance of winning if they were planning gun control legislation. They have neither.

Notice that Pelosi was very quick to disprove Holder's remarks. Notice the lip-service both Democratic candidates gave to the 2nd Amendment last cycle, no matter how insincere.

Are they doing this because they've seen the light? C'mon. The salivate over the idea of a total ban.

No, they're doing it because they know that a) gun control is no longer a fight they can win, even with a majority, and b) the fallout would be disastrous for them.

While I'd recommend keeping an eye out for sneaky regulatory stuff, another categorical ban will be almost impossible to pass.

__________________
Sometimes it’s nice not to destroy the world for a change.
--Randall Munroe

remember, this type of panic is why none of us can currently build our "dream guns" unless you have unlimited cash! putting the fear into everyone only raises the price of our guns. i cannot believe how many new posts i see on this sight and others about,"first time gun buyers" How scary, people who have never owned, or shot a gun, buying up assault rifles and pistols. go ahead everyone, keep on spreading the rumors!!!1 FYI I'M NO JACKASS! I'M A PROUD ELEPHANT!!!

__________________
"I see dead people"........okay i really only see people i want dead!

i cannot believe how many new posts i see on this sight and others about,"first time gun buyers" How scary, people who have never owned, or shot a gun, buying up assault rifles and pistols.

How true. I won't even go to my local gunshop or sporting goods stores on the weekends anymore. Folks are swinging pistols and rifles around with zero clue, an AR or AK in the closet in an apartment home with 40,000 rounds of ammo and no place to shoot it.
As far as the leaders balking at reviewing weapons bans, don't be fooled into believing that they won't do it, or are too smart to do it because it will cost them. They never try anything new, nor are they students of history by avoiding things that didn't work in the past. The 'New Deal' and its huge spending was hardly something that ever needed to be repeated. It didn't work, but that's exactly what just happened. Carter's foreign policy the same. They are FAR too agenda driven, and given the control of power they have right now, they will take advantage if possible.
Jim

This email link is to reach site administrators for assistance, if you cannot access TFL via other means. If you are a TFL member and can access TFL, please do not use this link; instead, use the forums (like Questions, Suggestions, and Tech Support) or PM an appropriate mod or admin.

If you are experiencing difficulties posting in the Buy/Sell/Trade subforums of TFL, please read the "sticky" announcement threads at the top of the applicable subforum. If you still feel you are qualified to post in those subforums, please contact "Shane Tuttle" (the mod for that portion of TFL) via Private Message for assistance.

This email contact address is not an "Ask the Firearms Expert" service. Such emails will be ignored. If you have a firearm related question, please register and post it on the forums.